Dec 10 (Reuters) – A federal judge in California on Wednesday ordered an end to Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops in Los Angeles and ordered them returned to the control of the state’s Democratic governor, finding that the Republican president had exceeded his authority.

The ruling by San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer represented the latest legal setback for Trump and his efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-controlled cities, an extraordinary use of the military for domestic purposes.

The judge found that Trump overstepped his authority by taking control of California National Guard units and sending them to Los Angeles and elsewhere in response to protests against federal immigration authorities. Breyer said there was no evidence to support the government’s claim that the protests were a rebellion against the government that legally justified sending troops.

Breyer also rejected the administration’s claim that courts have no power to review a president’s decision to take control of state National Guard units during an emergency, saying it was too broad a view of presidential authority.

“The founders designed our government to be a system of checks and balances. Yet the defendants make it clear that the only check they want is a blank one,” Breyer said, referring to the Trump administration.

The California National Guard is positioned at the Federal Building on June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles.
The California National Guard is positioned at the Federal Building on June 10, 2025, in downtown Los Angeles.

AP Photo/Eric Thayer

The judge’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a prominent Trump critic, asking the court to block an August order by the Trump administration taking federal control of 300 California National Guard troops until Feb. 2, 2026.

National Guard units are controlled by the states, but can be called into federal service under certain circumstances.

Representatives from the White House, Newsom’s office and Bonta’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump has said his troop deployments to Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Memphis and Portland, Oregon, are necessary to combat crime and protect federal property and personnel from protesters.

Local leaders in those cities have said the deployments are unnecessary. They have accused Trump of exaggerating isolated episodes of violence at mostly peaceful protests to justify sending in troops.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul, Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham)